“The IRA will continue to attack Crown force personnel and their installations as well as British interests and infrastructure,” he said.

The masked man also said the Real IRA would work with other dissident republican groups.

“Republican unity remains a key objective and we will work closely with other organisations.

“Continued divisions within republicanism only serve the interests of our enemies,” he said.

The masked man also claimed there is only one IRA.

“The challenge for republicans remains the removal of the British presence and violation of our sovereignty. The Irish Republican Army will continue to challenge this violation.

“There is only [one] Irish Republican Army and it is present in this cemetery today,” he said.

To be fair, Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin was giving out about the “ownership of Ireland” being “denied by the continuing partition of our country”. And denied by “the selling out of our economy to the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission.”

Prominent Derry republican Gary Donnelly also spoke at the commemoration on behalf of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement (32CSM) and said that there is no constitutional path to a united Ireland.

“Republicans stand here today continuing to defy those who demand submission,” he said.

Mr Donnelly also said; “The 32CSm challenge those who defend these servants of the crown to explain what argument exists that defends the rights of the PSNI to harass children and suppress the republican message.”

In an apparent reference to Sinn Féin, the leading republican also said; “Republicans cannot and will not engage with the institutions of partition and those who do have no right to claim the label of republican. The unavoidable conclusion reached when looking at former comrades at Stormont is that there is simply no constitution path to a United Ireland,” he said.

Have these people not heard we are in the 21st century.
Come on lads try to keep up.

dwatch

The six men arrested have been released without charge

Drumlins Rock

Watching the Belfast Parade on youtube, i’m sure there are a few things i could object too, but was too bemused by the duck style marching and wondering why most of the flags were furled. I thought the tiny children in berets was a wee bit off though.

Could someone get RIRA/CIRA or whoever, to define their version of what freedom is. Somthing that trumps the GFA referendum would be a good start.

Pete Baker

DR

The only quotes in the original post that refer to “freedom” are from Martin McGuinness…

dwatch

The duck like marching is mostly practised by soldiers from middle eastern countries. Wonder were republicans developed the habit from?

Jimmy Sands

“There is only [one] Irish Republican Army and it is present in this cemetery today,”

Those who inherited the PRM mantle, the so-called dissidents, might well subscribe to these words uttered by Doherty* at An Lúb:

We all owe a great depth of gratitude to these men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the pursuit of republican objectives. They stood up for justice, equality and freedom. Their vision, their determination, and their courage are to be commended and drive us onwards.

ranger1640

The bile that Adams spued out about capitalism in his Easter rant. Does that go down well in the USA?

Especially at the $500 a plate, black tie dinners and hunger strike commemoration dinners that the friends of the shinners have in the best hotels in New York, Philadelphia or Boston?

tacapall

“i’m sure there are a few things i could object too, but was too bemused by the duck style marching and wondering why most of the flags were furled. I thought the tiny children in berets was a wee bit off though”

So what would have you objected to DR ? The tiny children in berets thing sounds trivial when you consider young teenagers at Orange Order marches with KAT and FAP painted on their faces, all in full view of leading Orangemen.

ranger1640

Tacapall Your right, it was not right for those silly girls to have that written on their faces, no matter who was around.

But lets be fair here, is that any worse than parents and republican activists letting children at a republican cultural centre run around getting their photos taken with weapons simulating IRA terrorists?

There are many real soldiers lying their from both traditions and overseas, we should remember them and not these clowns.

cynic2

“The tiny children in berets thing sounds trivial ”

…..sounds to me like child abuse

cynic2

“it is present in this cemetery today”

…oh the unintended irony

Harry Flashman

“Some interesting burials in that cemetry, including this one from the Easter Rising 1916.”

It’s strange entering Derry City Cemetary from the Lone Moor and seeing at the bottom of the hill all the big old Victorian mausoleums of old Derry protestant families long since left, then you move up past the distinctive British and Commonwealth servicemen’s gravestones until you reach the top and you’ve got that INLA monstrosity.

It kinda sums up the history of the city.

Obelisk

“The unavoidable conclusion reached when looking at former comrades at Stormont is that there is simply no constitution path to a United Ireland,” he said”.

Complete rubbish of course. The constitutional path was laid out in the Good Friday Agreement and involves the Secretary of State calling for a Referendum if sufficient support for unity exists.

What Gary Donnelly really means is that there is no political path for him because he can’t win on it, and probably not in his lifetime, because the requisite democratic support does not as yet exist.

There is a path to Irish Unity, but it requires decades of slow hard graft. The path might even led nowhere. Or it could be that along the path everyone will simply stop caring. But the thing is, you have to convince other people of your argument in order to make progress.

Obviously it’s much easier to tear down what others build up (e.g a High street Bank) and to wallow in self pity about the wicked Crown Forces and the dastardly PSNI.

These people are just an embarassment.

tacapall

“Complete rubbish of course. The constitutional path was laid out in the Good Friday Agreement and involves the Secretary of State calling for a Referendum if sufficient support for unity exists”

What I think he means is what right has a British MP for North Shropshire to decide when or through what hoops Irish people should jump through concerning a referendum on a United Ireland. This is a matter that should be decided by the Irish people alone without having to have the permission of a British overlord.

Obelisk

“What I think he means is what right has a British MP for North Shropshire to decide when or through what hoops Irish people should jump through concerning a referendum on a United Ireland. This is a matter that should be decided by the Irish people alone without having to have the permission of a British overlord.”

We have that right. We can vote for parties who argue in favour of a United Ireland at elections to the assembly. If those parties ever form the majority designation, they can then say that there is widespread support for a referendum and the British Secretary of State can then facilitate one.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d like a United Ireland as well but if it doesn’t come in my lifetime I am OK with that too.
But the dissidents are a counter-productive intellectual AND moral black hole. I have little time for wannabe provos and their mouthpieces or their nonsensical ravings about a moribund struggle in the modern era.

Reader

tacapall: What I think he means is what right has a British MP for North Shropshire to decide when or through what hoops Irish people should jump through concerning a referendum on a United Ireland.
The hoops were defined in the Good Friday Agreement, which I remember voting on, and which the Dissident republicans still reject. The job of the Secretary of State is simply to decide when the hoops have been jumped. I suspect we are beginning the long run up for the first failed attempt.
While I wouldn’t put it past the Dissies to recruit a bit of Anglophobia to their cause, they didn’t do so this time – not explicitly. That bit is just speculation on your part.

tacapall

“We have that right. We can vote for parties who argue in favour of a United Ireland at elections to the assembly. If those parties ever form the majority designation, they can then say that there is widespread support for a referendum and the British Secretary of State can then facilitate one”

Why do we need a British Secretary of States permission ? Surely that is a matter for the majority in the assembly to decide, will the British Secretary of State decide on the actual wording of the questions asked in the possible future referendum or can we decide that ourselves.

Violence will not decide Ireland’s future its unnecessary and pointless as well as morally wrong. When you look back through Ireland’s history there’s very few political parties who were not either born from the gun or at one time or another used the threat of violence to get what they wanted.

Obelisk

“Why do we need a British Secretary of States permission ? Surely that is a matter for the majority in the assembly to decide, will the British Secretary of State decide on the actual wording of the questions asked in the possible future referendum or can we decide that ourselves.”

We need his go ahead because that’s what is in the agreement that people voted on. If the Assembly REALLY wanted a referendum, or if a majority of votes expressed a preference for Irish unity, I’m pretty sure the SoS would call one.

Reader

tacapall: Why do we need a British Secretary of States permission ?
What Obelisk said: that’s the deal – plus:
We need an umpire. Neither unionists nor nationalists could be trusted to set a question (and I think the implication is that it will be a single question, not multiple questions)
As an extra point – you quoted someone who was waiting for a majority in Stormont. Wouldn’t you prefer it if you only had to wait for a nationalist plurality? I would agree that would be a reasonable threshold to have a go at a first failed attempt…

cynic2

“what right has a British MP for North Shropshire to decide when or through what hoops Irish people should jump through concerning a referendum on a United Ireland”

Weren’t there those referendum thingys on both sides of the border and didn’t the Irish Republic vote sort of 97% for

And in any case, this is part of the UK, SF accepted thats as part of the agreement and he sits in a UK parliament and as a UK Minister. So every right

cynic2

by the way….I believe from the time that the reason for the SoS as umpire was that SF requested that a poll ONLY be called if it was likely to show a majority for unification. The reason is simple. They don’t want a poll held to expose the truth – that a substantial minority of Catholics would vote with most of the Prods for the UK ie they have failed politically as well as militarily

tacapall

“If the Assembly REALLY wanted a referendum, or if a majority of votes expressed a preference for Irish unity, I’m pretty sure the SoS would call one”

So did the British Government keep this pledge –

“The Government will introduce an Irish Language Act reflecting on the experience of Wales and Ireland and work with the incoming Executive to enhance and protect the development of the Irish language”

Blue Hammer

Tacapall

“Why do we need a British Secretary of States permission”?

That would be because we have been, are and will remain for a very long time a part of the UK, and as such have a SoS appointed by our UK government to oversea matters here. You may wish, hope or hold a legitimate aspiration for that status to change, but it is, as it currently stands, the factual position. Get over it.

Drumlins Rock

BTW, the SoS in recent comments in Parliment used the various surveys as his basis for stating there is currently no requirement to call a referendum, he did not use the proportion of nationalist party votes or a sectarian headcount, has he established a precedent?

tacapall

Quite correct DR it seems the rules are being made up as we go along.

Drumlins Rock

taca, the rules were established in the Good Friday Agreement, this was merely some clarification that came about because SF pushed the point. By so doing they have managed to establish the goal posts are even further away than many thought. Good move guys.

lamhdearg2

“Unionism no longer has a veto over Irish unity” = we dont except the GFA in full, Martin and the other ira have that in common.

Reader

tacapall: So did the British Government keep this pledge: “The Government will introduce an Irish Language Act…”
I seem to recall it turns out that’s actually a devolved matter.
1) Surely you ought to be pleased about it being a devolved matter? You know – with it not being the business of the East Brits.
2) Surprising that SF didn’t spot that one while proof reading the St Andrews Agreement (not the GFA, by the way). Surely some of the suits on the spot contained young, thrusting, high powered republican lawyers instead of just tired politicians.

cynic2

” republican lawyers ”

Oh wash your mouth out. there is no such thing. They are all totally independent Human Rights(TM) Lawyers

Barnshee

“We are on the road to freedom”– the road away from the British Taxpayers cheque book ? -I don`t think so

Mainland Ulsterman

“We are on the road to freedom” – perhaps it’s a roundabout, Martin. You’ve actually been circling around freely for ages.

The main threat to your freedom was when the police had to come and stop you shooting out of the window at the other drivers.

harpo

” “There is only [one] Irish Republican Army and it is present in this cemetery today,”

Indeed.”

All of it was present.

harpo

“Declan Kearney’s “there is no other IRA“, ”

Has the media challenged this character about this remark?

There are probably about 10 different groups who say this sort of thing but why is a representative of ‘mainstream republicanism’ saying it?

Are their heads firmly back in the sand?

harpo

“Declan Kearney’s “there is no other IRA“, ”

Another point.

If what he says is true does that mean that the PIRA is behind all the recent republican violence?